Before you start

Choose the right tool

There is an astounding number of online survey systems available, each with a slightly different set of tools and fee structures.

Idealware suggests nonprofits might want some of the following:-

Flexible look and feel allows you to personalize the survey and make it clear your organization is responsible.

Skip logic allows users to skip sets of questions that are not relevant For example, the survey skips further questions on dog ownership when they answer no to having a dog.

Piping pulls parts of a question into another question, based on their answers. This might be useful if someone answered that they followed you on Twitter – you might ask them what kind of content they would like to see there.

Randomization helps avoid bias based on question order.

Website integration allows you to embed the survey on your own website.

Data analysis is commonly a more expensive tool but one that helps you understand and extrapolate data more easily.

Make your research count

Results of my first big survey – for a health nonprofit – were surprising, rich and comforting. They were also completely useless for the purpose I had intended.

Though I had researched well the best way to ask questions, tested it and promoted it well, I had failed to take into consideration the specific needs of the government auditing procedure I had hoped the survey would answer. I failed to think it through before I started and wasted a lot of company time and the goodwill of our community.